Sorry for the long delay. I've been held back due to more work and a bit of writer's block, and I might edit this chapter a bit more if I can think of a small change. But anyhow, here's the newest chapter. Enjoy!

And, as what you might expect, I don't own Bleach.

"So, you knew me, when I was still alive I suppose?" The hollow asked curiously and in a rather most carefree manner, as I peered inquisitively at a bleeding and gasping Toshiro, held aloft by the white claws gripped around his throat. Those still conscious were deathly aware and trembled in fear, from the resemblance of this scene to the early scene where "Ichigo" had crushed the vasto lorde class hollow by its throat. "I wonder what sort of person I was. It is a rather interesting question, in my opinion. Even if there is little actual point to the question, or to the answer."

It mused aloud idly, its words and thoughts seemingly rambling along no clear path. "Ichigo" had cut in sharply with a sonido-like step, and shattered Toshiro's bankai with a well-placed cero that had blasted through the draconic ice wings and utterly destroyed the central cluster of the flowers that normally sustained his bankai. As the stunned remaining defenders tried to come to Toshiro's aid, the hollow cleared a space around itself by raising its spiritual pressure and blasting back most of the defenders. Then as the captains and vice captains tried to shakily press closer, it had raised its spiritual pressure still higher and then violently knocked the captains and vice captains away by dashing quickly forward and taking a powerful swing with its spiked tail. Those unfortunate enough to shakily hold their position, mainly Byakuya and Kenpachi, were mauled terribly as the hollow threw them back with sharp blows with its claws. Backpedalling furiously, Toshiro launched an ice dragon towards the hollow to delay it, even as he leaped backwards and began the incantation for a powerful binding kido spell.

Instead the hollow used sonido to appear behind Toshiro before the kido was complete. Breaking off the chant, Toshiro whirled about and engaged in a close fight, furiously parrying the claw swipes that the hollow sent at him with his blade. It swung its bladed tail around slicing at Toshiro's feet. He ducked below the claws and stabbed its tail with his blade. The hollow hissed and pulled it tail back as the blade glanced off the side with only a shallow gash. Stepping to the side, the two began to circle each other. As Toshiro desperately thought of some way to defeat or escape from the hollow, it abandoned its circling and charged at him, forcing him back with wild swings and attacks that he frantically parried. But despite his attempts to defend, cuts and gashes began to accumulate. Panting and fatigued, he failed to see the hollow suddenly brought its tail around and trap his left foot. Distracted, Toshiro failed to block the next attack, which ripped his sword from his hand. Disarmed and exhausted, he had become completely helpless and the hollow had casually grasped Toshiro by the throat, lifting him up high above the ground.

The two captains had pulled themselves upright by now, just as the furious but brief fight had ended. Kenpachi grinned eagerly at the thought of another battle, but Byakuya knew that both of them were seriously injured, putting them at a heavy handicap. Most of the other defenders were unconscious still, though the vice-captins had already begun to stir and wearily stand up, and the odds were stacked heavily against them. Toshiro glared defiantly at the hollow, and reached out futilely for his sword lying at the hollow's feet as if to call it back to him. "Ah, ah, ah, now." The hollow lightly admonished him, and flicked out his tail to knock Hyorinmaru away from itself and further out of his reach. "We wouldn't want you to get hurt; little children should not play with sharp objects you know."

Byakuya eyed the hollow warily. From just watching the fight, he knew that its spiritual energy was far more powerful than the wearied defenders' combined remaining strength. However, its techniques appeared unrefined. Perhaps a high level kido spell could restrain it for a moment. But, they needed a moment's time, and so he sought to buy them some time. In his usual placid tone, he blandly asked the hollow. "So do you not recall your identity at all? Why then were you following after that pack of hollows?"

If possible, the hollow actually looked rather confused at the question. Rather bemused, it tilted its head to the side absently and wondered aloud. "My identity has to do with following this pack of hollows? How very curious. And you say that my name is Kurosaki Ichigo, hmmm. I see. To tell the truth, I was just rather bored. And when I wandered upon that group of hollows," it smiled toothily showing its maw and razor-sharo teeth, "I thought that I had found something fun to do for a while. You were all just icing on the cake, to be honest."

As Byakuya finished gathering his reiatsu and began his kido chat, Kenpachi pulled himself fully upright and drew out his blade with a tremendous smile. His bellowed words drowned out the sounds of Byakuya's incantation. "I don't care if you remember who you are or not, and I don't really care why you came here, but I know that I want a good fight. Why don't you fight me?" He shouted out and rushed forward, swinging his notched and worn out zanpaktou at the hollow.

Reacting instantly, the hollow threw aside Toshiro who twisted in midair and skidded to a stop along the ground. Toshiro dashed to his sword, and picked it up before collapsing onto one knee from his wounds. Byakuya continued his incantation, but nodded towards Matsumoto, who had regained consciousness a while earlier, to head over and help her captain. Ignoring all this in favor of its fight, the hollow whirled about with its tail, forcing Kenpachi to sidestep and delay his attack. With the time it gained, it used a well-placed sonido to step to Kenpachi's back. But, he merely swung his blade back around and parried the hollow's claws. Pushing it back, he savagely cut and hacked at the hollow, forcing it give ground and retreat back. "You, shinigami, are actually not half bad." The hollow commented. Sparks flew as Kenpachi's blade glanced through it guard and slashed along its arm. It lunged forward with both hands, clawing at Kenpachi who took several slashes to his upper torso. As Kenpachi grinned, it continued. "But, only by half." It caught Kenpachi's blade and locked it with its claws, and then swung its other clawed hand around at his unguarded side.

With a heave of his powerful frame, Kenpachi pushed the hollow away and dodged out of the claws' attack. "Well, that's because I've never showed my other half." Despite being covered with bleeding wounds and injuries inflicted through both battles, Kenpachi's grin widened further. He stepped back, and the hollow paused warily and watched carefully. "You seem to sense the danger you're in." The hollow's eyes narrowed in anger and a growl echoed aloud, a deep, low and terrifying rumble. "Feel honored, hollow. I realize that you might really be a very fun battle; I can already tell that I'll probably lose. So it's time to bring everything out. You're the first to really ever provoke me this far. Then again, it's something I've only learned fairly recently." With a flourish, he held his zanpaktou straight up. Nothing seemed to happen, but everyone could hear him chanting lowly, murmuring to himself words that sounded like "Rise to the sounds of battle, fight with one heart. Named after my name, to glory in the joys of war." At first only to the sensitive and perceptive fighters, but then gradually to everyone present, they could feel Kenpachi's spiritual energy meshing with, rather than fighting against, his zanpaktou. A pillar of light erupted around him, and fresh wave of reitsu billowed out in a massive surge, growing stronger every moment and then increasing in magnitude still again as his eye patch was blown off. When the light faded away, his wounds and injuries had all healed over, though there was little other noticeable change. The greatest difference concerned his zanpaktou. Where before it had been notched and scarred and battered, constantly worn down from contending with the power of his uncontrolled reistsu, it now gleamed with a polish, refined, and deadly mien. The blade had been smoothed out and glittered dangerously, looking as if it had been just newly forged with the purest steel in the flames of the hottest fires. Kenpachi just grinned toothily and lopsidedly commented, "Behold, this is what my shikai looks like." And, he started laughing loudly, in satisfaction.

"What kind of dirty trick are you using?!" The hollow cried out in anger, as it tensed in readiness for an attack. And, for a moment, its voice sounded like Ichigo's. "How are you increasing your power? You don't even have a shikai! I know you don't have one!" For a moment, a very puzzled light seemed to enter the hollow's eyes, and it actually paused and stood still for an entire second. It muttered rather in great confusion. "Remember? Did I remember something?" And as it stood still, in that small opening, Kenpachi ran the hollow through with one powerful stroke. Slashing it back out, the blow knocked the hollow far back, slamming it against the kido barrier. It cried out in pain as the barrier burnt at him.

Kenpachi's wide grin dimmed. "Was that all it took? I finally go all out, and my opponent is just worthless like that? Feh. A waste of my time."

A fierce roar pushed back Kenpachi with its force and anger. The hollow stood up straight and shook its head, shaking its head in anger. Its bestial tone rumbled out dangerously. "Don't think that I'm done yet, shinigami. That attack barely scratched me." It bared its sharp teeth at him and flexed the long claws that curved out from his hands. It blurred into motion as it dashed towards Kenpachi. However, it was suddenly brought to a halt, as Byakuya finally completed his reinforced kido barrier, binding the hollow securely within the bars formed by a dual kido binding spell using both Rikujokoro and Danku. "How dare you interfere?" The hollow demanded as it struggled in frustration against its confines. The thirteen glowing, golden pillars, each twice the thickness of a normal person, and extending unendingly into the skies, firmly pinned down even this powerful hollow.

Byakuya limped over, somehow still infusing every one of his pained steps with a sense of his noble dignity. "Don't bother trying to move, hollow. This is combination is the most powerful binding spells that I can cast, it can deflect and bind even a captain's most powerful attack. You cannot resist any longer. We will be taking you back to the Gotei 13 for further study and examination, and then you will be purified after that point." He gazed upon the hollow sternly, without any other sort of feeling, having none of the confusion the others felt. But, if one looked closely, one would be able to see the slightest tremor running through his otherwise still pose. After all, he had fought Ichigo's hollow form before, and could positively recognize him. Everyone else had merely made the assumption that it might be Ichigo due to the hollow's unusual orange hair, and had no real basis for their guess. However, he had to carry out his duty, as this hollow seemed to be out of control and did not seem to remember anything. And as such, as a shinigami officer of a noble house, he would defeat and purify the hollow's soul.

The hollow just raised one white-plated eye, and smirked. It began to laugh. "Puny shinigami. Feel the power of a Vasto Lorde." It snarled. The air around it rippled malevolently as spiritual energy billowed out in a think, dense cloud that distorted and bent the air around it. The bars started to deform and bend, as a tremendous power coursed through them, corrupting the kido patterns that bound this fearsome being. Byakuya watched helplessly, stunned and amazed that his kido was being warped and ripped apart by the hollow's struggles. It was impossible to shrug off such high level kido, absolutely impossible. "Ready to go again, shinigami?" It leered at Kenpachi.

Angered and desperate, Byakuya lunged towards the hollow, who simply ignored him and knocked him back with a simple kick, slamming him into the ground in a explosion of dust. "Nii-sama!" Rukia cried out, and made as to run over to his side, when he gestured weakly at her to stop. The rest of the defenders seemed both eager to join the fight and defend the town, and also correctly reluctant to fight a hollow of this power. The hollow rushed at Kenpachi , who laughed joyously as the white claws made a long slash through his shoulder, and the two continued to exchange blows. Each strikes sent sparks flying, and waves of spiritual energy scintillating over the ground, until the battlefield seemed to be bathed in the pale light of reistu. But, quickly, the hollow began to dictate the pace of the battle, wearing down Kenpachi's defense and leaving deep wounds all over his body. It started to toy with the captain, who nonetheless continued his wild fight.

"Retreat to the edge of the barrier and remain out of the way." After pulling himself back up, Byakuya ordered Rukia, and intimated that the rest of the defenders were to do likewise. "Gathering his flagging reserves, he released his grasp on Senbonzakura, letting it sink into the earth before him. "Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Long blades rose out of the ground around the combatants, before shattering into a million cherry blossoms that fluttered around dangerously. Somehow though, both Kenpachi and the hollow continued to fight the entire time, ignoring Byakuya's actions. Trying to better contain the powerful spiritual energies being released by the battle, he formed a swirling wall of blades that surrounded him, Kenpachi, and the hollow. "Now, let us even the odds a bit." Grabbing two of the blades from the wall, he flash-stepped forwards. As Kenpachi thrust the hollow back momentarily with a powerful swing, and the hollow staggered off-balance for a split second, Byakuya stepped in low, and sank one of his blades straight through the hollow's armored foot, pinning it to the ground. It bellowed in pain and rage, lifting its foot and ripping the blade forcefully out of the ground. Turning, it faced Byakuya and charged at him.

"Best not to ignore me either." Kenpachi laughed as he swung his zanpaktou down. The hollow caught the blade with one claw, and cast a powerful bala at the same time, engulfing the field with smoke. Then it vanished into its cover. As Byakuya looked around, the hollow dashed out and slammed out clawed hand at his stomach. Byakuya managed to parry and catch the attack with his blade, but was knocked to the side as the hollow's tail whipped around. The hollow cast a quick, relatively low-powered cero at the prone Byakuya, who was saved as a wall of ice rose up and shattered, absorbing and dissipating the impact of the attack. The hollow hissed in anger and with some fear as the smoke began to clear, revealing a total of three of the Gotei 13 shinigami captains. Hitsuya had recovered and rejoined the fight with his activated Bankai, while Kenpachi was still eager to fight, with his revealed shikai. And surrounding all four of the combatants, a wall of shimmering pink blades circled ceaselessly, ensuring that the fight would continue until only one side remained standing.

Byakuya picked himself up gingerly and called two replacement blades to him. The hollow, now cautious and wary, withdrew back slightly, showing true hesitation now for the second time in the fight. It spoke slowly, its voice echoing hollowly. "I am beginning to think that I might just be overmatched here." It nodded to itself. "After fighting two supposed vasto lorde class hollow, being delayed in a prolonged skirmish with a group of Vizard, and then drawing even with three shinigami captains, I think that I am beginning to tire. Yet, I find myself somehow loath to leave this battle." Its head tilted to the side oddly, and his long claws clicked together. "It is not hunger, of that I am most sure. Battle-lust and the thrill of strong opponents make up only some of my reluctance." The next question was directed at the somewhat confused shinigami who had merely waited and held a cautious approach. "Did you really now me while I was alive? Is that what explains my muted sense of familiarity with all of you?" But, it seemed to shake itself in negation, before turning away. "I am confused, very confused. If you really did know me, come to Las Noches and find me. For myself, I must return and think over these strange feelings which no hollow must ever have felt before." Seeing the captains open their mouths and begin to speak, it halted them with one uplifted claw and a flare of its strong spirit energy. "I must go."

A massive garganta gate opened, ripping apart the shrouding concealment and imprisonment of Senbonzakura. The shinigmai and various defenders gathered outside stared in shock at the abrupt materialization and the tremendous size of the gate and then even more so as six gigantic menos grande class hollows stepped out, their black cloaks billowing around them. The captains flash-stepped back to join the crowd of defenders, who were readying themselves for a final, desperate defense, and with a barked command made them stand down and wait. Twelve bestial-looking adjucha hollows dashed out around the menos, forming up along lines into a sort of reception. In awe-struck wonder and fear the defenders watched silently and motionlessly as the hollows all bowed and knelt low as the orange-manned hollow strode through the two lines of hollows and into the gate. As the entourage turned and followed their leader though, and the gate began to close, they heard its voice echoing back out. "To be or not to be, that is the question. Come to Las Noches if you truly want me to try to remember."

And with that, the brief skirmish and then deadly battle was over. The demoralized and wounded defenders immediately contacted Soul Society with information about the battle and asked for aid and reinforcements. The utterly bewildered defenders of Karakura Town were now left to debate and figure out what exactly to do next, after the captains had reluctantly let the group know what the hollow had said before it left. And now everyone was left wondering about what would happen next.